The Metro A Line Extension To Pomona: A Long Time Coming
On September 19th, 2025, the Metro transit system started to serve new areas to its riders with its now completed extension to Pomona and other neighboring cities
Metro has officially opened a long-anticipated 9.1-mile extension of the A Line (formerly the Blue and Gold Lines), stretching service from Azusa to Pomona. This new section adds four stations in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and the North Pomona metrolink station. The new terminal station is located just four miles from the Claremont Colleges, which can be reached via a connection to Metrolink.
This extension builds on Metro’s premier A Line, which already spans from Long Beach through Compton, South LA, Downtown, and Pasadena. In 2016, the line had expanded eastward into cities like Arcadia, Duarte, and Azusa. With this latest addition, the A Line now stretches 58 miles from end to end, making it the longest light rail line in the world, according to Metro. A 3rd extension to the city of Claremont and Montclair is said to be in the works and will likely be done in 2030
Travel time from downtown Los Angeles to Pomona is expected to be around 64 minutes, and from Long Beach is roughly 2 hours.
The construction project began in 2020 and included relocating freight tracks, laying new rail lines, and building roadways and pedestrian crossings. It set Metro back $1.5 billion dollars. The work was led by the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority and handed over to Metro earlier this year.
Metro says the expansion revives local rail service in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Pomona for the first time since 1951, when the Pacific Electric Railway stopped operating in the area.
“Finally” Says Toby Guebert, a retiree out of Claremont, CA and a fellow rider of Metro. “I bought my house in 1998 and always heard that rail service is coming to the area. I was hoping to commute by train to my job as a teacher at citrus college in Glendora and thought it would be great to leave my truck in my garage and ride to work and save money at that time, but it didn’t happen.”
Guebert says as a local, this extension is and will be very beneficial for him. “In a few years when I’m not supposed to be driving, I’ll be able to take the A line to Pasadena and Long Beach and wherever I want to go.”
Metro celebrated the launch of the new extension with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is when they use a train to sever a huge banner declaring a new line or segment as part of the Metro system, and service officially started that afternoon
This project is part of Metro’s broader push to enhance their light rail system ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The Pomona Fairplex, now more accessible thanks to the A Line, will host the Olympics’ cricket competition.
Another major rail upgrade, the D Line extension under Wilshire Boulevard in West LA, is also underway. The first phase of that project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. There are many more projects underway for the metro system over the next 20 years.
